Rudolph Nahodil arrived at Ellis Island aboard The Braunschweig on 12 April 1892; he was alone and destined for Pennsylvania. Aside from Rudolph, his wife and their children, only four other people with the Nahodil surname are listed in the US Federal Census for the year 1900 as living in the United States. The four are:

Name

Age

Location

Arrival

Notes

John Nahodil

66

Nanticoke, PA

1891

Widowed and living with his married daughter and her family.

John Nahodil

28

Nanticoke, PA

1892

Married to Kate below.

Kate Nahodil

20

Nanticoke, PA

Married to John above.

Frank Nahodil

25

New York, NY

1900

Arrive in the US 2 months prior to census.

Rudolph Nahodil

42

Coal Twp., PA

1892

Arrived alone.

Rosia Nahodil

38

Coal Twp., PA

1892

Married to Rudolph above. Arrived in Philadelphia with their children.

Rudolph and Rosamond Nahodil have been a mystery to many of us for generations. Nobody in my family or other Nahodil relatives I have spoken with knew anything about Rudolph’s parents or his origins. Most family stories about Rudolph and his wife are related more to her alleged royalty as a part of a well known Austrian family. No story ever mentions additional Nahodil family arriving before, with or after Rudolph.

For many years, the first glimpse of Rudolph in records after his arrival to this country showed that he lived in Coal Township, PA with his family; this continues to be the primary residence of most of his descendants. For the same amount of years, I have wondered why the passenger list for his wife and children shows that their destination was Duryea, PA. Heck, where is Duryea? Well, Duryea borders Wilkes Barre, as does Nanticoke. Over the years, I have seen a few Nahodils in and around Duryea and believe they must be related to my Nahodil family. I have searched and searched but couldn’t connect the two…until now!

While researching over the weekend I ran across a new document, the 1896 City Directory for Pittston , Pennsylvania…another border town of Wilkes Barre. This directory listed John, John Jr., Louis, and Rudolph Nahodil. This is the first document I have for Rudolph between his arrival in the US and the 1900 census; this tells me that my assumption that he went directly to Coal Township was wrong. Finally, it is starting to come together.

I have started pulling death certificates from the Pennsylvania State Archives which show that Rudolph’s father was named John and his mother was Susannah. I have also pulled the young John’s death certificate and found that his father was named John and his mother was not known. I am still trying to track down the elder John’s death certificate as well as his daughters to see who are listed as her parents. Could I have finally found more of my Nahodil ancestors? Was the elder John that was living in Nanticoke in 1900 my 3x great grandfather? Ah, the mystery begins to unravel.

One Response

Sometime in my High school years there was a teacher who was doing her Student Teaching from Bloomsburg. She took me aside and told me that per her research on our shared family history, that the Nahodil line in PA was a direct descendant from King Franz Joseph. The progeny was out of wedlock, but as a courtesy was made a footman to the King of Bohemia.

My theory based on a letter or document I read some time ago, was that Rosamond Astor was of the infamous Astor Family of Europe. She fell in love with “The Help” and was disowned. They then eloped, and moved to the United States. If only I can find proof of this.